Confessions of a Former "Neat" Person

Are you a neat person or a clean person? It is my philosophy that a person can be one or the other, but very rarely both.

A few years ago I would have undeniably answered this question claiming to be a neat person. And I really was! When I was teaching school full time, there was a certain peace about coming home to my nearly perfect looking home...not a pillow out of place, simply PERFECT! I love to decorate and would frequent my favorite decor shops to bring home new pieces to add to the beauty of it's neatness! At any given time, Better Homes and Gardens could have come in and done a fabulous photo shoot! I was clearly a neat person. I had someone come and clean it for me, and even if it was dirty, well, who cares, it was neat and beautiful to me!

Then, I had kids!

A teacher friend of mine often told me that those pillows would not stay in place when I had kids. I thought she was crazy! Didn't she know that I was a "neat person"? My pillows would stay in their perfect place, even with children! The confession: I was wrong, she was right!

The pillows are a mess, as is everything else. Toys scattered across the floor as if a small tornado made it's way through the house. Cupboards are left open from explorations in my kitchen, area rugs are strewn across the floor from being used as blankets in imaginary houses, a train track here, a roller skate there, play food in between the two. My house is just simply a mess. The problem is: I JUST PICKED IT UP. My children are that quick. They can make a mess faster than I ever dreamed. I frequently (as in all day long) find myself saying things under my breath such as:
"I just picked that up",
"I just swept that",
"Don't you know I just scrubbed this floor?",
"Why did I even bother vacuuming this rug?",
"Ahhh, fingerprints everywhere!",
"What a mess!"

It has happened. I am no longer a neat person. I am now officially a CLEAN person. The messes just pile up over and over again. I have resigned to accept it. There is no changing it. I actually enjoy watching them play in their messes and getting into them myself, knowing that at the end of the day, we will pick up and start all over again.

I now am constantly cleaning, and cleaning, and cleaning, and cleaning. I decided to get rid of the housekeeper. She would have to be here all day just to keep up...every two weeks will simply not do at this stage of the game! My mom is so proud that I have come away from the dark side, knowing that my home is rarely neat, but pretty darn clean (or as clean as any home can be with a 1 year old, a 3 year old, and a man living in it).

So this post is for you mom... and all your cleanliness- you taught me how to clean and now I actually do it! And also for you Sandy...for all your wisdom of what was to come-even when I denied it!

Oh, and did I mention, I am loving it?